Chapter 2. Formation Of Districts of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 4. >> Part 5. >> Chapter 2.

Proceedings for the formation of a district within any county shall be commenced by a petition which is signed by the owners of not less than 51 percent by area of the land in the proposed district within the county devoted exclusively to the growing of citrus fruits. The petition shall be addressed to, and filed with, the board of supervisors of the county.

The petition may be filed in sections each of which shall comply with all the requirements for a petition, except that a section need not contain the total number of signatures required for the petition.

Signatures to the petition may be withdrawn at any time before it has been acted upon by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors a declaration signed by the petitioner which states that it is the intention of the petitioner to withdraw his signature from the petition.

(a) The petition shall state the name of the proposed district and shall set forth its boundaries or describe the lands to be included in it.
  (b) It is a sufficient designation of the boundaries of a proposed district to recite that all the citrus acreage in the county is to be included in the district, or that all the citrus acreage in a designated area within the county is to be included in the district.
  (c) If either designation is used, the outside boundary of the area so designated is the boundary of the district and the district shall include all area within the outside boundary, if the district is formed pursuant to this part.

Upon the presentation and filing of a petition, the board of supervisors shall fix a time and place for the hearing of the petition and shall refer the petition to the commissioner for investigation and report. The hearing shall not be less than 20 days, nor more than 40 days after such presentation and filing.

The board of supervisors shall order the clerk of the board of supervisors to give notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing upon the petition.

The notice of hearing shall do all of the following:
  (a) State the name of the district and that it is being formed for the eradication and control of citrus pests.
  (b) State the petition is available for inspection at the office of the clerk of the board of supervisors.
  (c) Designate the boundaries of the proposed district in substantially the same way that they are described in the petition.
  (d) State the time and place for the hearing.
  (e) State that at the hearing protests will be considered by the board of supervisors.
  (f) State that requests in writing for the exclusion of lands, from, or the inclusion of lands in, the proposed district will be heard and considered by the board of supervisors.

Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the district.

The notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date set for the hearing.

At the hearing, the report of the commissioner shall be received and protests may be made orally or in writing by any person interested in the formation of the proposed district. Any protest which pertains to the regularity or sufficiency of the proceedings shall be in writing and shall clearly set forth the irregularities and defects to which objection is made. All written protests shall be filed with the clerk of the board of supervisors on or before the time fixed for the final hearing. The hearing may be continued from time to time not exceeding 60 days.

At the hearing, any owner of citrus acreage in the proposed district may present to the board of supervisors a request in writing for the exclusion of that land or any part of that land from, and any owner of citrus acreage outside the proposed district may present to the board of supervisors a request in writing for inclusion of the land in, the proposed district.

If the board of supervisors determines that the petition does not comply with the requirements of law, the matter may be dismissed without prejudice to the right to present a new petition covering the same matter. A finding by the board of supervisors in favor of the genuineness and sufficiency of the petition and notice is final and conclusive against all persons except the state in a proceeding brought by the Attorney General within one year of the date of the making of the order establishing and describing the boundaries of the district.

(a) If the board of supervisors determines that the project is feasible and in the interest of the citrus growers of the county, the board of supervisors shall, by order entered in its minutes, declare the district duly organized under the name designated in the petition for the formation of the district.
  (b) The order shall describe the territory included in the district and, if the board of supervisors does not exclude or include land pursuant to Section 8465, it is a sufficient description of the territory to describe the boundaries in substantially the same way as they are described in the petition. A copy of the order duly certified by the clerk of the board of supervisors shall be filed for record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the district is situated.

Any district formed prior to March 2, 1961, in which the order of the board of supervisors adopted the description in general terms as it appears in the petition is hereby validated.

(a) In determining the boundaries of the district, the board of supervisors shall exclude from the district any citrus acreage which it finds will not be benefited by the proposed project, and it may include in the district any lands which it finds will be benefited if it also finds it will be to the interest of the district to include these lands. The inclusion may be upon application of the owner or, without the owner's application, upon giving the owner notice of the proposed inclusion and an opportunity for a hearing on it.
  (b) Notice of inclusion shall be mailed, postage prepaid, by the clerk of the board of supervisors, to the address of the owner of the land as shown by the last equalized county assessment roll, and to any person that has filed with the clerk that person's name and address and description of land in which he or she has either a legal or equitable interest. The notice shall describe the land proposed to be included, and shall state the time and place at which objections to the inclusion will be heard.